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Here's a few video clips of Bill Pollack promoting his racing memoirs, Red Wheels and White Sidewalls with Bob Schmitt. Bill has led a long and full life...with that he has accumulated many stories, most of which are true (we think).
In honor of the reprinting of Bill Pollacks racing memoirs, Red Wheels and White Sidewalls, we are reprinting our review of the book from issue #40 (Spring 2004). To buy a copy of the book, you can go to Amazon or to Bill's publisher, Brown Fox Books. Enjoy!
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Many Allard enthusiasts got their initial inspiration from Tom Carsten’s immaculate white-walled, Cad-powered J2. Bill Pollack had the honor of piloting that imposing mass of adrenalin, testosterone, and charisma to outright victories in each of its five outings in 1951 and 1952. Bill continued his amateur racing activities for another 5 years after that car was destroyed in a post-race accident at Pebble Beach in 1953. During those years, he earned 18 more “podium” (in F1 parlance) finishes in 44 races.
Most people think that the Allard Motor Company closed up shop after they built their last Palm Beach MkII in 1958. Not so. The Allard name was synonymous with speed in the UK and they built a thriving after market business. They had a partnership with Shorrock superchargers, built custom Ford Anglias, tuned suspensoins...they would even install a sunroof in your car! As you can imagine, very few Allard sunroofs have survived the elements, but we got a tip today from Scotty Bevis that one had shown up on Ebay! It's nothing fancy, but it's a testament to how ingrained cars were in the life of Sydney Allard. He could have easily closed up shop and joined the family construction business, but no, he kept on playing with and racing cars...thanks Syd!
We just got a tip on this post from www.britishracecar.com about Bob Girvins GT Coupe #2 of 2 built. As you can imagine, Bob's car can get around a track pretty well...it doesn't hurt that Bob is a pretty good driver either. Click here or the photo above to read a VERY detailed review of this unique GT Coupe.
On July 20-22, Silverstone will be summoning vintage cars from all over Europe to it's famed track for the Silverstone Classic event. Once again, the AOC will be there in full force and are hoping to have 20+ cars in their corral. In addition to some great racing, club parades, and general car watching, Silverstone Auctions will be selling an interesting Allard.
M-type #321 is pretty interesting. It was originally sold as a chassis only through dealer George & Jobbing on November 7, 1947. From there, we assume the car sat around for a few years unfinshed. At some, the car must have been sent back to the factory to be completed, including: a hybrid M & K body, coil spring front end conversion (these did not appear until late '49), and a 24-stud Mercury V8 was added with Allard heads & intake. The car was originally owned by BBC broadcaster Randall Herley and has only had two owners since. The car is listed as lot #110 and is estimated to sell for 20-25,000 GBP ($31-39,000). To learn more about the car and see additional photos, click here or on the photos above.
I've never seen one of these before...it a sports coat with an Allard Owners Club - America patch sown on the breast pocket. The jacket is a size 42.
I must confess that the seller contacted me before posting the Ebay ad. It looks like the previous owner was in the military and the last name might have been "Harper." These assumptions were made because the coat was part of a lot purchased with military items that had the name Harper on them.
Click here to view the auction.
From Brian Taylor...
"OK historians log these details in your book of legends. The date - Sunday July 1st. The place - the workshop at Andy Robinson Race Cars in the UK. The time - 2030 hrs local time. Those present - Andy Robinson, Bob Roberts, Martin Dunks and Brian Taylor. After a long days work and fueled with methanol Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler dragster burst into life. The first time since 1964.The sigh...t, sound and smell was amazing. Thanks to all those who have backed us and to an amazing team of people working on the car we have brought drag racing history back to life. There is still plenty of work to do before Brian Golder's original restoration has been complated but nothing that will not wait until after Dragstalgia. We will be able to attend the Cacklefest Ball on the strip on Saturday evening on July 14th and during July 15th and for the first time since 1964 those attending will be able to see and hear the car that started it all in European drag racing terms. Make sure you are there. The start-up was recorded on video and we will release lots more info soon. How did I feel? Relieved, proud and so excited. I didn't sleep much last night just re-running that moment in my mind. Wow."
Congrats to everyone that's working on the restoration...the end is near!
More than 340 historic cars ran in 15 racing groups at the 3rd annual Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Infineon Raceway on the first weekend of June. This year’s theme was “Moments in Time: a Celebration of the History of Motorsports”. Bill Pollack, winner of the 1952 Golden Gate Park Road Races driving a Cadillac-Allard J2, was honored as Grand Marshal.
Seeing that video the other day of that poor guy attempting to drive Bob Lylte's J2X inspired me to dig through my Monterey archives. I put together the footage you see here of Bob getting ready to practice at Monterey in 2006...and of Bob's car just before it was auctioned at RM. Seeing this footage was bittersweet and brought back a lot of fond memories. In the next week I'll post a gallery that shows off the guts of J2X 3162...I doubt you've ever seen a J2X like it. Cheers!
Just found this video on YouTube of the late Bob Lytle's J2X being prepped for auction at RM a few years ago. Bob's J2X was equipped with a Buick Nailhead and a Muncie 4-speed...As you can see in the video, the driver couldn't quite get the hang of the 4-speed!
Roger Allard's Chinese demonstrator has been getting a lot of attention lately. This past weekend, his distributor, Keith Lomason, President of Jimmer's Classic Collectibles was invited to brink the MkII to the Shanghai F1 circuit to play with the Shanghai Super Sports Car Club. The attendees were primarily Lambos, Ferraris, Beemers, Porsches, Benzs, etc...with one orphan - the Allard.
Each car got 10 timed laps per segment. The J2X MkII was approximately 15 seconds behind the Lambos etc. Keith is is not an experienced driver on the track, plus he has a slight weight disadvantage. Not bad for a rookie on skinny tires! Hopefully we can get some in car footage next time...
Unfortunately our pdf's are currently offline due to some technical issues at out host. Hopefully they'll be resolved soon. Sorry for the inconvenience! The Management.
The problem has been fixed, sorry for the inconvenience!
As with the previous letter, this one is also addressed to Mr. Cappy of the Britain Motor Co. It dates from June of 1948 and is probably typed on the thinnest paper I have ever handled. This letter is also the oldest Allard letter we have in our archives. Click here or the letter above to view as a pdf.
Sometimes you get lucky. The other day I won an Ebay auction for an Allard brochure that I didn't have yet. Along with the brochure were a few other brochures and some old letters. The package arrived today and as I sorted through the items I noticed that both letters were dated from 1948. Upon further inspection; one of the letters was from J.B. Ferguson of Fergus Motors in NYC to Allan Cappy of Britain Motor Co. in Rochester, NY. Mr. Ferguson writes about receiving a used K1 that was imported in 1947 and was modified with a Grancor "Hot Rod" engine with over 150 hp. Grancor was of course Andy Granatelli's (STP) shop that also imported a few Allards. What's interesting is that the K1 in question must be chassis 108, that was recently sold on Ebay. Click here or the photo above to view the pdf.
An excerpt from the August 1951 issue of Road & Track...which was an excerpt from the Jan-Feb 1951 issue of Sports Car magazine...
"In a recent regional news letter, the cornering powers of our 'J.2' are compared with another make and the fact that the 'J.2' holds the road like a leech up to certain speeds when it slides without warning, is mentioned.
Mr. Allard asks me to say that this is well known, but the speed at which this sliding occurs is greatly above the speed at which the other make mentioned starts to break away. At the speed where this breakaway occurs on other makes, the 'J.2' is rock steady and, if it is desired to corner at the maximum speed possible with our car, this must be done in the usual Grand Prix manner, in a four-wheel drift. The required angle of drift being maintained by conjuctive manipulation of steering and throttle.
When this technique is mastered we doubt if there is a faster sports car through corners extant than the 'J.2' Allard"
-H.J. Biggs, Technical Assistant, Allard Motor Co.
P.S. The photo above is from the March '80 issue of the Old Motor with Jim Tiller showing us how to corner his J2 at Goodwood in '69.
The July 2012 issue of Classic Motorsports magazine has a large story on Martin Stickley's Ford Cobra engined J2#2121. Cheers.
After being auctioned last week for a reported $18,500 + buyers premium, Allard K1-108 has now been listed on Ebay. I spoke with an Allard owner who attended the auction and he said the car gathered a lot of interest. He says the car is in pretty good condition, all things considered. He also confirmed that the wood is in pretty good condition. The car is missing the waterfall grill (can be made in the UK) and the windshieldd. The bidding on ebay is currently just over $20,000, so that means our seller has made back his oringinal investment. Click here to go to Ebay...let us know if you buy it!
P.S.: for those of you who don't already know; this is the 2nd K1 built, the 8th production Allard, and the first Allard exported to the States. Here's what a properly restored K1 looks like...
From the December 1952 issue of Road & Track, a cover photo by famed automotive photographer Louis Klemantaski. The note below says it all...
Updated 6-5-12
We've known about this car for a while now after helping the 'finder' with the history. We were sworn to secrecy while a fair offer was made by the 'finder', but the estate has now elected to go the auction route to sell this and a few other "barn finds."
What you see above is a very significant Allard...it is a K, chassis #108. Why is this significant? It represents the first of almost three hundred Allard's imported to the United States. The car was shipped to the US on March 31, 1947 - likey to NYC. It was originally painted white with red leather interior and powered by engine #7079928. As you can see, a healthy looking Cadillac now resides in the engine bay. The car looks to be complete, but it's a total basket case. The wood body is likely rotted so if you plan on tackling this project, you'll need to know what you're doing...or have deep pockets. The car is missing the windshield, radiator, and grill.
The car has been in the Russo family since 1948. The car is believed to have a race history, but we haven't been able to confirm any entries or results.
If you are interested in the car, you better contact the auctioneer Mr. Steve Dance of Dance Auctioneers at 410-823-3993. The car will be sold on this June 13 at the Timoniun fairgrounds in Timonium, MD (just North of Baltimore). You can also click here to visit the auction web site. The preview starts at 10:00am and the car will be sold at 7:00 pm.
If you attend please take lots of photos of the car for us!
[Jim Degnan has owned and raced his Cad-powered Allard K2 for the past 25+ years. He recently forwarded this article from the June 1985 Allard Owners Club newsletter. Roger includes a postscript at the end of this intriguing article.]
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By Roger Murray-Evans
It’s never an easy task rebuilding old engines, especially when they’ve been obsolete for 30 years with the added complication of being of American origin. However in my humble opinion, an Allard should have a Cadillac engine, and as Jackie’s K-Type developed incontinence this winter, in its extremely loose flathead, and I had a similarly afflicted Caddy 331 lying around it seemed madness not to join the twain together, especially as the total rebuild of either engine would cost pretty much the same. That’s my excuse anyway!
